Josh Hawley's attempt to block Biden's Homeland Security nominee shows how little he cares about national security

<p><img src="https://static6.businessinsider.com/image/601481f2d6c5e60019c6e0b0-910/GettyImages-1230053416.jpg" border="0" alt="Josh Hawley Ted Cruz" data-mce-source="Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>The onset of a new administration would typically afford Congress the opportunity to push for comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reformwhich would provide an opportunity to create jobs, fuel economic growth, and build back the country better. But not today.&nbsp;</p><p>While Congress should be focusing on immigration reform, their time is instead being spent sounding the alarm on a growing national security threat.&nbsp;</p><p>Typically, threats to our national security come from violent extremists and terrorist organizations abroadadversaries working to dismantle the democratic principles America stands foror the darkest corners of the internet where white supremacy flourishes.&nbsp;</p><p>Today, there is a new, grave threat to American's national securitybut it's coming from within our own government: Sen. Josh Hawley.&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>We need a Secretary of Homeland Security to combat extremism</strong></h2><p>Instead of honoring longstanding, bipartisan precedent to give a new president's nominees for critical national security positions swift consideration and confirmation, Sen. Hawley <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/19/alejandro-mayorkas-confirmation-hearing-460256">single-handedly attempted to block</a> the entire process surrounding the confirmation of President Joe Biden's selection to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas.&nbsp;</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li><em>Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/diplomacy-biden-didnt-fill-top-roles-with-career-diplomats-2021-1" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Biden is blowing his best chance to restore America's standing in the world and inspire faith among our diplomats</a></em></li><li>Even while the Secretary-designate has held three Senate-confirmed positions, is a leading homeland security expert, and enjoys bipartisan support, Hawley chose to play politics with a position that has a direct role in safeguarding the country.</li></ul><p>Intelligence reports from DHS last week indicate that the United States<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/us/politics/homeland-security-threat.html"> faces a rising threat</a> from "violent domestic extremists" who have been emboldened by the attack on the Capitol that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-dems-file-ethics-complaint-against-gop-sens-hawley-cruz-n1255228">Sen. Hawley incited</a> through words and actions, including with his <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article248354085.html">infamous fist pump</a> on January 6.&nbsp;</p><p>Now, Hawley is also responsible for single-handedly slowing the confirmation of Mayorkas to lead the agency in charge of combating extremism.</p><h2><strong>Senator</strong> <strong>Hawley is a threat to America</strong></h2><p>Our nation faces unprecedented crises that have created monumental challenges and threats to our national security. We urgently need a permanent Secretary of Homeland Security to keep the American people safe. Alejandro Mayorkas is one of the nation's preeminent security experts, an experienced leader ready to take charge at an agency that has long been mismanaged, and an American immigrant with the heart to restore dignity to the department.&nbsp;</p><p>There was no sound reason to prevent his nomination from swift consideration in the full Senate and put American security at risk.&nbsp;</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li><em>Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-qanon-maga-paranoid-conspiracy-theory-tucker-carlson-rand-paul-2021-1" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Trump's gone, but the GOP's conspiracy theory cesspool is here to stay</a></em></li><li>Hawley has put the safety and security of fellow Americans at risk not once, not twice, but three times now. In addition to helping incite the capital attack, he is now slowing down our nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic <a style="font-family: Georgia, Times, sans-serif;" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/22/biden-vaccine-mass-sites/">by blocking FEMA's ability to ramp up vaccine distribution</a>.</li><li>With American lives being lost everyday and critical infrastructure strapped thin, Senator Hawley somehow feels it's acceptable to leave American lives and our nation's security hanging in the balance.&nbsp;</li></ul><p>In three separate assaults on our democracy, he has posed a clear and present danger to fellow Americans. It's reprehensible, disqualifying, and all-around un-American.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hawley-attempt-block-dhs-nominee-doesnt-care-national-security-congress-2021-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/economist-weighted-voting-could-help-save-us-democracy-2018-5">A top economist explains how weighted voting could change democracy</a></p>
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